2018 Headunit Glitches/Bugs
 

This used to happen at least once every two weeks or so, but now is becoming more prominent. Every morning before I get ready for work, I warm up the car, and before I take off, I plug my iPhone and use Apple Car play. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. If I turn the car on, intermediately plug the phone, and drive off, it works almost every time. If the car doesn't recognize the phone with Car play, it won't do it with Bluetooth either. Not even if I turn the car off, I'd have to wait a couple of hours. It has to be one or the other right after starting the car. Could it be a compatibility issue having a new phone that the headunit, or an update I'm missing. Or should I just toss the whole thing and get something better, I don't really like to mess with electronics.

I'm not too familiar with the OEM head units as I installed aftermarket soon after purchasing my '15 FR-S, but if there is a factory reset procedure on your head unit, try that.

I've had the occasional problem with my 2018 headunit not recognizing my iphone for carplay. Usually a full restart of the unit would fix it- you can do this by holding the volume/power knob down until it fully shuts down. (A quick press will only turn off the display)



It's strange that it's happening more often for you, mine hasn't done it recently (though it was often for a brief period). There is also an option to update the firmware in the settings via wifi- may want to see if yours can be updated.

Car play is finicky. It will work flawlessly for weeks then glitch every time. Phone reboot and stereo power cycle will fix it most of the time. FYI it is not just Subaru, I think my 19 ranger is more finicky.

So I did the good ole' Did you try turning it on and off again" trick, and...it worked.... But does not mean you have to turn off the vehicle. Just hold the top left button for about 10 seconds until the screen turns off, the system reboots, and you see the initial startup screen. Not sure if its a 100% of the time fix, but I'm assuming there's some sort of glitch lingering around.